Maria the Hedgehog, Protector of Life
by AceTiff12
Summary: A short alternate universe (AU) fic in which Maria is Professor Gerald Robotnik's ultimate creation instead of his granddaughter. One-shot.


Her first memory was of darkness turning into light. She squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. Everything was fuzzy: the sights, the sounds, the thoughts in her head. Then, slowly, they cleared.

An old man stood before her, smiling. He wore a lab coat with a name tag reading, "Prof. Gerald Robotnik."

They were in a small, neat, white room filled with monitors, beakers, and bookshelves.

Her voice came out as a soft chime. "Who am I?"

"Your name is Maria," the man replied. "Maria the Hedgehog."

He was her creator, one of the many scientists who worked inside the Space Colony Ark. His ultimate dream was to enrich the lives of all the people on Earth. She was born, he told her, to protect those in need.

Gerald led her to a large window that showed her reflection and a nice view of the planet's surface. She observed her sunny yellow fur, blue dress, and striking blue eyes. The planet was blue, too, and gorgeous. She fell in love at once.

Maria learned all about Earth, the Ark, and herself over the next several weeks. She treated everyone with kindness and received the same treatment in return.

It was intriguing to discover how things worked, but as time passed her curiosity grew until she could no longer contain it. She became interested in knowing _why_ things were. This pleased her creator immensely, cementing his belief that she was his greatest successful experiment.

One day, she asked the professor why she was named Maria and why she was created as a Mobian _hedgehog_.

"My late wife," he explained, "always spoke fondly of a Mobian hedgehog family from her childhood. And we never had a little daughter of our own, but she would've liked to name her Maria."

Just as her creator... her _father_... honored someone he loved, Maria promised to honor everything and everyone she cared about. She trained and studied hard to become a guardian Earth could rely on.

She stayed on the Ark for months, waiting patiently until Professor Gerald announced it was time for her to make her debut.

Nothing could've fully prepared her for the real world and its stunning scenery. The sky above her head, the grass in the fields, the paved roads and tall buildings...

And the people! Humans, Mobians, Chao, and Critters, too! She couldn't interact with any of them as she was being escorted by car, but just watching them was enough. She couldn't tear her eyes away. A light blue Mobian tiger pushed her baby in a carriage. Two teenaged humans walked down the sidewalk holding hands. An elderly man with a neatly trimmed beard sat on a bench tossing crumbs to chipmunks and squirrels.

Everyone looked so happy and at peace. She wanted to protect them with her life.

She was driven toward the outskirts of the city, where there was less hustle and bustle. The car stopped in front of a long chain-link fence that guarded a cluster of gray buildings. This was the headquarters of G.U.N., the Guardian Unit of Nations.

The excitement she felt earlier lessened as she followed the professor inside.

She waited by herself in a doctor's office for an examination. After that, she would be "tested" to prove her worth, but neither she nor Professor Gerald knew the details of how this would be done. G.U.N.'s funds made her creation possible, and if they did not like how she turned out, they had the power to shut down all future projects done on the Space Colony Ark.

The doctor's face stayed blank as he approached her, and he was not gentle. His hands prodded her roughly and he did not warn her before pricking her arm with a needle for a sample of blood. The only words he spoke to her were short and simple commandments. "Stand on the scale." "Lift your arms." "Cough."

She and Professor Gerald had suspected this: that they might treat her like an object, a machine, instead of a living organism.

She was then taken to a warehouse for her special test. The back wall had a long window where she could see people in G.U.N. uniforms, business suits, and white lab coats. They sat in a room on the other side of the glass to observe and make notes. She breathed a little easier when she spotted her father in the back row.

The warehouse was arranged to resemble an abandoned/recently evacuated city. She guessed they were going to put her through a simulation exercise. Sure enough, the floor rumbled as a set of doors slid open on her left. A robot emerged, rolling along on a pair of metal treads. It towered several feet above her head with machine guns for arms, a scope for a head, and a broad armored chest.

There was the feedback of static. Above the long window, she noticed a speaker.

"Defeat the robot as quickly as possible."

The voice came from a man speaking into a microphone. He had a uniform with a large golden medal pinned on his shoulder. Maria heard her objective, but found it hard to look away from the speaker. Nestled atop it, fast asleep, was a bird. How did it get in here?

She didn't have much time to wonder, as the robot made a blaring beeping noise. The scope pointed toward the nearest fake building. The mech rolled slowly to it, aimed its weapons, and opened fire on each and every one of the glass windows.

The bird chirped, opening its eyes groggily. Maria hurried away to deal with the robot.

It was still firing when she came within shooting distance. The last of the fake building's windows shattered and the robot beeped again. She saw its chest flash red with each beep. Then it lifted its arms and clicked, reloading.

The scope head spun to look directly at her. She jumped up into the air, curling into a ball, and launched herself at it. The Homing Attack hit dead-on.

Nothing remained of the scope now except for a metal stick with wires popping out. Maria performed another Homing Attack and another, hitting the chest and driving the robot back. She'd hoped to make it lose its balance and fall, but it was heavier than it looked.

After a third strike, the robot raised its machine guns. Maria's eyes widened as it fired bullets blindly. The top half of the body turned in a full circle, shooting everywhere at once. The metal treads rolled across the ground. She crouched low and took shelter behind a nearby public drop-off mailbox. The robot would lose ammo soon, like it did when it shot those windows, and then she'd resume her attack. She peeked from behind the mailbox and gasped.

The robot was making its way toward the long window in the back. A few bullets bounded harmlessly off the glass. The window was bulletproof, but surely not the speaker above it, nor the bird for that matter!

The bird chirped rapidly, flapping wildly in a tizzy. It tried to fly off to safety, but fell to the ground instead as a stray bullet pierced one of its wings.

The robot turned right, heading for a fake antique shop.

Maria ran from her hiding spot straight for the back wall. Many of the spectators blinked in surprise as she stopped to kneel down where the bird lay wounded.

She wiped some dust off the now still Critter and gently touched its face. Its eyes were closed, but it was breathing.

"Maria the Hedgehog!"

A few loud taps bounced off the window. She looked up to find the same man who spoke earlier on the microphone. Now that the speaker was destroyed, he had to yell at her through the glass.

"Leave the bird!" He pointed a finger to the right. "Destroy that robot!"

The sound of bullets shattering glass and knickknacks seemed to emphasize the command.

She turned her attention back to the bird. Carefully, she nudged it into her palm and stood up.

There was a nasty bruise on its stomach and one of its feet appeared to be broken. Several feathers were missing from its wing that was moist with blood. She hovered her free hand above the bird's body.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated. A soft golden light glowed around her hand. She mouthed the words, "Chaos Mend."

The bird became encased with light, too. It lasted a few seconds and faded away, taking the injuries with it. New feathers sprung to life.

The Critter opened its eyes, gazed about in wonder, and hopped up. It preened its feathers in the cup of her palm, then chirped merrily.

Maria held out her hand and watched the bird fly high, away from danger.

Turning back, she promised herself to not leave the room without seeing to it the bird was let free outside.

She ran to the fighting mech, which was just finishing reducing the fake antique shop to Swiss cheese. She arrived in time to hear the clicks of two empty machine guns. The chest flashed red, but she didn't give it a chance to reload.

She leaped into the air, swiping her arms in an arc again and again. "Chaos Spear!"

One by one, sharp yellow bolts soared from her hands, piercing and slicing through the robot's back and arms. The top half of its body turned to face her. She landed on the ground hard and sped toward the exposed chest.

She unleashed a series of fast Homing Attacks, putting more force into each one than the last. The mech rolled backward. She sent another Chaos Spear at the treads to weaken its stability. Sparks soared and thin trails of smoke poured out from every damaged area.

Maria took a step back and bent down into a ball. She spun in place quickly and Spin Dashed into the chest. The robot was finally knocked off balance and onto its back, causing a small explosion as it collided with the floor. The mech made a last, slow, fuzzy whir noise and shut down.

After dusting herself off, she returned to the long window but found the room behind the glass empty. She stood in quiet confusion for a few seconds before she heard doors opening.

Three people emerged from the same way the robot came in: the man who told her to abandon the bird and, flanking either side, two G.U.N. soldiers.

Maria approached and started to curtsy as a polite greeting, but stopped at the man's fearsome scowl.

"You disobeyed a direct order." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Why?"

"With all due respect, sir," she answered, "I was made to protect, above anything else. A living creature needed my help so I acted accordingly. I know I'm supposed to follow instructions, but I don't want to use my power recklessly just to eliminate threats."

"Be that as it may, an experiment that doesn't obey proves it cannot be trusted. Therefore, we've no choice—"

"Hold that thought."

A new voice joined in, belonging to an older woman in a dark gray business suit. Following right behind was Professor Gerald.

"Father." Maria smiled fondly.

"I see what you mean, Gerald," the woman laughed. "Nothing like our artificial weapons, indeed." Then she looked at the yellow hedgehog and said, "I've seen enough of your abilities and, more importantly, your nature. You pass the test."

While the uniformed man was in charge of overseeing Maria's test, this woman had the final say in whether or not she passed it. After seeing Maria rescue a helpless bird, she was convinced Maria had a kind heart and could make wise decisions on her own, which would come in handy if anything were to compromise G.U.N.'s capabilities.

The good news made Maria happy, but there was one more thing she was anxious to know. "Can we please find that bird and let it outside?"

Within a few weeks, Maria and Gerald were living together on Earth. They still made trips back up to the Ark, as the professor had other work to do up there. She accompanied him out of a fierce loyalty, but he encouraged her to stay where she belonged. The more she did, the more independent she grew.

She spent a lot of her time going on important missions for G.U.N. She met and protected lots of people and quickly earned a golden reputation throughout the world.

As the years passed, she watched her father age while she remained young. She stayed close by his side and held his hand beside his deathbed when the time came. Her eyes leaked tears, but her face wore a brave smile. She knew he was going to be with his wife now, where they would both look after her from then on. She would make them proud.

And Maria the Hedgehog was certainly someone to be proud of. No job was too big or too small for her to accept if it meant enriching all the innocent lives on Earth. Her father's dream was her dream and she put her all into making that noble future a reality.


End file.
